Watermelon
“The family next door gave birth. It really is a daughter.” When Zhang Lirong heard that Zhan Aiping next door had given birth to a daughter, she was delighted. She thought, Zhan Aiping had said she wanted a daughter, and now she had really given birth to one. Who knew whether she was truly happy or only pretending?
Her family would have two daughters in the future, and daughters were all going to marry into other people’s families. A married daughter was like water poured out.
Zhang Lirong coaxed her own child to eat. Her family only had one son, and they raised him with great indulgence. The couple gave him the best things and fed him the best food. Even the children’s shoes her son wore were little leather shoes that cost ten yuan a pair. Ordinary families could not afford them.
She felt that her son was treated much better than Guobaorou next door. The child raised by their family would definitely be more outstanding than the children next door.
All the children in the compound would envy her son.
“Director Li, you’re here?” Zhang Lirong saw Director Li and greeted her.
Director Li Yuxia said, “I’m here to see Doctor Zhan. She just gave birth, and her husband isn’t here. As the women’s director, I definitely have to come check on the situation, in case there are any emotional conflicts…”
Zhang Lirong smiled. “Then you really should go have a look. Doctor Zhan just gave birth to a daughter.”
Director Li: “…She gave birth to a daughter, so she’s unhappy?”
Zhang Lirong said, “Giving birth to four sons like you would make someone happy, wouldn’t it?”
Director Li revealed a somewhat forced smile, thinking, Happy my foot. If I could have even one daughter, then I wouldn’t…
She sighed inwardly. Having given birth to four sons, saying she was not happy would also be false. In this kind of environment, everyone envied those who gave birth to boys. Many people praised her for being good at giving birth.
Quite a few people came to her house to borrow her good fortune, wishing they could give birth to boys every time, which gave her family a great deal of face. Even Director Li herself could not help feeling proud.
Director Li stood outside the Gu family’s door, hesitating inwardly and thinking that she would have to be careful with her words later. In truth, she had seen many situations like this. Military wives like Zhan Aiping would inevitably complain that their husbands were not by their side, or envy Director Li for having given birth to four boys.
Director Li could only wave her hand lightly and say that boys were naughty, and having too many of them was noisy!
Director Li entered the Gu home. Gu Sheng was not there. Gu Xiangyi had taken leave to look after her sister-in-law. Zhan Mingzhao was also there, and Guobaorou and Little Tangyuan were likewise staying at home to keep their mother company.
When Director Li entered, Gu Xiangyi greeted her. Director Li looked around. The house was warmly arranged, making people feel comfortable. There was clear water in the vase on the table, with more than a dozen fresh flowers arranged inside, giving the room a clean and beautiful colour.
Director Li stared at the most brightly blooming flower and felt that something was not quite right. The room seemed a little too quiet. She had also raised children. As long as several children gathered together, it would be noisy. There was never a lack of movement at home.
Just one child could be noisier than a flock of ducks. Add to that a child’s sharp, loud voice, and when they started howling, a person’s eardrums would almost burst.
Back when her family had raised three boys, her ears had buzzed all day, with not a moment of peace.
Doctor Zhan had two children. How could it be so quiet?
“Youyou and Yuanyuan aren’t here?” Director Li asked aloud.
Gu Xiangyi smiled. “They’re here. They’re keeping my sister-in-law company.”
“Really?” Director Li was surprised.
Gu Xiangyi said, “My eldest nephew is telling stories to his two younger sisters.”
Director Li: “…” She did not believe it.
“Sister-in-law, Director Li is here.” Gu Xiangyi brought Director Li into the bedroom. Zhan Aiping was sitting half-reclined on the bed. Little Marshmallow was lying on her back beside her. Little Tangyuan was lying at the bedside, while her older brother Guobaorou held a book and was reading a story in a serious, proper manner.
Guobaorou’s voice was very gentle, but what he was reading was the story from *Journey to the West* where Sun Wukong thrice defeated the White Bone Demon.
Little Tangyuan asked her brother, “Can I also turn into a beauty like the White Bone Demon?”
Guobaorou said coldly, “I don’t want a White Bone Demon little sister.”
Little Tangyuan asked, “What about you, Brother?”
Guobaorou said, “I want to be the most powerful one. I want to be the Tathagata Buddha.”
Zhan Aiping rubbed her face and commented, “When Mom and Dad were little, we only wanted to be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong.”
How did the children in their family not understand the charm of the Monkey King?
What was this wanting to be the Tathagata Buddha?
Little Tangyuan asked curiously, “Mom, why? Why? Why would Daddy want to be a monkey too?”
Daddy was so handsome and tall. Wouldn’t being Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li be better?
Zhan Aiping: “…”
“Because being the Monkey King means he could play games with his little sister. He’s the older brother, so he could play the Monkey King and let his little sister be one of the little monkeys of Flower-Fruit Mountain.”
Little Tangyuan: “Ah?!”
Guobaorou refused. He was a proper “man” and did not want to be a monkey.
Gu Xiangyi: “?!!! Sister-in-law?!”
Director Li asked curiously, “…Doctor Zhan, your eldest can already read?”
Zhan Aiping said, “He learned it himself for fun. He can recognise a few characters.”
Guobaorou said, “I can also recite poems, recite the multiplication table, and do mental arithmetic. Director Li, do you want to test me on maths? I can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division!”
Guobaorou was already used to adults’ routines. First they praised him for being clever, and then they would definitely say they wanted to test him… Rather than wait for these adults to speak, it was better for him to strike first.
Director Li: “…I came to visit your mother.”
She had not come to watch a child show off his talents.
“Do you really not want to hear me recite poetry?” Guobaorou stood by Director Li’s leg and looked up at her. “I can also recite prose. I know ancient poems and modern poems!”
Director Li: “This child really is enthusiastic—”
Little Tangyuan said, “Auntie Li, do you want to watch me dance?”
Usually, after her brother finished performing his talents, it would be her turn. Little Tangyuan was already used to it. Her father was a regiment commander, and there were many uncles in the regiment. Every time they came, it was the same routine: “Regiment Commander, your children are really well raised. Oh, they’re so sensible now? They can count and recognise characters? They can even recite poems? Recite one for us. The little one can dance too? Dance for us…”
Director Li asked, “Do you usually perform for your mother?”
Guobaorou sighed. “Mom said she’s tired of listening and tired of watching.”
Auntie had said that Mom had given birth to their little sister and did not feel well, so she needed to rest properly. And the two siblings had to think of ways to make Mom happy.
But Mom was so hard to coax!
Zhan Aiping: “…”
Listen to what the children were saying. It made her feel like an ancient fatuous ruler.
Director Li: “…”
“Little Zhan, you really are living quite pleasantly.” Director Li almost forgot why she had come in the first place. She had clearly come to soothe a family member’s emotions. The family member had given birth, and her man was not by her side…
But with her man absent, it seemed there was not much effect at all?
Director Li glanced at Guobaorou and Little Tangyuan. The little brother and sister were both good-looking and dressed cleanly. This was especially true of Little Tangyuan. The little girl’s hair was braided in a complicated style, and she wore a pretty butterfly hair clip.
Then she looked at Zhan Aiping. Zhan Aiping had just given birth and was physically weak. Her complexion was not very good; she looked pale and frail. Compared with the usual Director Zhan, she had another kind of quiet, gentle beauty that made one feel pity.
There was no sorrow or resentment between her brows… Zhan Aiping was not especially young anymore, but Director Li always felt that she looked much the same as when she had first arrived. Time had not left many traces at the corners of her brows and eyes.
That made sense. For women, childbirth was a hurdle. Women aged quickly after giving birth, not because of the birth itself, but because raising children was exhausting. After giving birth, their qi and blood were both depleted, and they still had to stay up feeding the child. When the child grew a little older and could run and jump, there would be even more to worry about.
It was not childbirth that made people grow old. It was worry that made people grow old.
“Your children are still the best. They save you a lot of worry and are obedient. Now you’ve added another daughter too, another little padded jacket close to her mother’s heart. Unlike me, I gave birth to four little brats, and they nearly worried me to death.” Director Li spoke half in modesty and half in showing off.
Having given birth to four boys had indeed made her worry, but it had also given her a great deal of face and confidence. Who would not be envious if she said it aloud?
Zhan Aiping smiled. “Director Li, you really have worked hard. I’m a mother too, so I know how tiring it is. It hasn’t been easy for you.”
Zhan Aiping did not take the bait. She did not want to say, just for the sake of politeness, that she envied others for having many sons in front of her daughter. Similarly, she did not want to flaunt the idea that daughters were better in front of her son.
Director Li choked slightly. “…”
Director Li thought, What hardship have you suffered?
Raising four mischievous children was what true hardship meant.
Director Li had originally come over to soothe the family member’s emotions, but if she continued this kind of soothing, she herself was going to develop emotional problems.
Gu Xiangyi said, “My eldest nephew really has the bearing of an older brother. He usually takes very good care of his younger sister. Now that he has another younger sister, he’ll definitely be a good older brother.”
Guobaorou nodded. “I want to be a good older brother!”
Director Li: “…”
Thinking of the years when her own eldest and second sons had fought, she really could not stand seeing someone else’s “brotherly harmony.”
It hurt.
Director Li noticed the back of Guobaorou’s head. “Your children didn’t sleep their heads flat?”
“Neither of them did.”
All four of her children had very good-looking flat heads. A flat head was blessed, a sign of wealth and intelligence. But both of the Gu family’s children had not had their heads flattened.
Zhan Aiping said, “I think round heads look better.”
A flat head made the face and features appear bigger; that was the plump-headed, big-eared look considered wealthy and fortunate in this era. A round head, where the head framed the face, made the face look more delicate and small.
Director Li said, “Aiya, Doctor Zhan, you really didn’t pay attention. There wasn’t an elder to teach you. Flat heads are better-looking.”
All four of her children had perfectly flat heads, especially the fourth child. Because she had become experienced by then, she had managed to make his head especially flat.
“For this daughter now, you must pay attention. You need to make her sleep with a flat head. If you don’t know how, I’ll teach you.”
Zhan Aiping refused. “Her brother and sister both have round heads. Let the siblings be consistent. They can all have round heads.”
Director Li: “…”
This Doctor Zhan really was stubborn and unenlightened.
“Next time, take a good look at the back of my fourth child’s head. Don’t regret it later.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
Guobaorou asked curiously, “Why?”
Little Tangyuan said, “Back of the head?”
Director Li said, “Your mother didn’t make you sleep with flat heads. Look, the backs of your heads are too round, just like little watermelons.”
Little Tangyuan said, “Watermelons are good. They’re sweet.”
Guobaorou asked his mother, “Mom, what kind of melon is a flat head?”
Zhan Aiping: “…A courgette?” She was not sure either.
Director Li: “??!!!”
“What’s that?”
Little Tangyuan said firmly, “Watermelon is still sweeter.”
When Director Li left the Gu family home, her mind was still full of watermelons. As she was leaving, she saw Zhang Lirong from next door playing with her son in the yard. She noticed the back of the child’s head.
“Your child slept with a flat head?”
Zhang Lirong said, “Flat heads are clever. Look, isn’t that right? My child’s head turned out very well.”
Zhang Lirong pointed to the back of her son’s head. It was truly flat as a plain. That was her proud work. She had deliberately learned from the local elders how to make a baby sleep with a flat head, and she had paid great attention to it daily, which was how she had achieved this head shape.
Director Li glanced at it and thought that her own child’s was still the flattest. She had never seen a head flatter than her fourth child’s.
“It’s not bad. It’s different from the Gu family’s. You paid more attention than Doctor Zhan. She’s a doctor, yet she doesn’t pay much attention to these things.”
She felt extremely pleased inside. Indeed, old ginger was spicier. It still took someone experienced like her to look after children properly.
Zhang Lirong asked curiously, “Director Li, when you saw Director Zhan, how were her emotions?”
“Was she upset?”
Director Li: “…”
Director Li thought, I’m the one who’s upset!
“She’s perfectly fine. Just wait until their Regiment Commander Gu comes back.”
Zhang Lirong said, “They added a little daughter. Regiment Commander Gu might not necessarily be happy, right?”
Director Li said, “Why wouldn’t he be happy? You give your Regiment Commander Luo another daughter and see whether he’s happy or not.”
Zhang Lirong: “…” She wanted to give birth, but she could not. She and Regiment Commander Luo could no longer conceive.
Director Li left. She still had a fourth child at home worrying her to death.
Before Zhan Aiping had even finished her postpartum confinement month, Gu Sheng returned.
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